WASHINGTON — These days, Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina isn’t deriding town hall hecklers as a bunch of “angry white guys” or branding as losers the conservative activists who criticize him at the S.C. GOP’s convention.

Starting his 18th year in Congress, Graham also is not writing New York Times columns with U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., on the dangers of climate change, pitching immigration reform or predicting the demise of the Tea Party.

Instead, Graham is struggling to respond to the political force of Republican insurgents who helped elect backbench legislator Nikki Haley South Carolina’s governor in 2010 and, last month, gave Newt Gingrich’s anti-Washington presidential campaign its only win so far, in the state’s Republican Primary.

Is the recalibrated Graham just being a shrewd pol, adapting to the times? Or is he running scared, afraid of a serious primary challenge in 2014?

Graham sat in his Capitol Hill office earlier this month, pondering those questions for a moment or two, which, for the Seneca Republican, is a rhetorical eternity.

Then, he responded in typical fashion.

“I fear God,” he quipped with a laugh, easing into what sounded like the outline of a stump speech.

“My profile is — I’m conservative, not an ideologue,” Graham said.

Midway through his second term in the Senate, Graham assesses himself as better prepared now than ever before to help the nation and his state.

“I want to be a guy that Democrats can find common ground with on the issues of the day,” Graham said. “I want to do something on Social Security and Medicare. I want to find a way to get Tea Party Republicans and conservative Reagan Republicans, like myself, and some middle-of-the-road Democrats in a room to solve problems.”

Asked again whether he fears a primary fight, Graham cut to the chase.

“No, I don’t fear one; I expect one,” he said. “In politics, you have to earn these jobs, and I just feel real prepared.”

‘Graham is really an outcast’

In his first Senate re-election campaign, in 2008, Graham swamped his GOP challenger, then soundly defeated the Democratic nominee.

Now, in Myrtle Beach, Tea Party leader Joe Dugan already is marshaling activists to make sure Graham faces a formidable foe in two years.

“Graham is really an outcast,” Dugan said. “He stands out like a sore thumb in a state as conservative as South Carolina. I wish he were up for re-election this year so we could vote him out.”

Good luck with that, said Barry Wynn, a former state Republican Party chairman. Wynn — the campaign treasurer for South Carolina’s other U.S. senator, Tea Party darling Jim DeMint of Greenville — has close ties with conservative activists across the state.

“I can tell you there are some noisy people who would like to run somebody against Lindsey Graham, but they really represent a fairly small minority,” Wynn said. “My money would be on Lindsey to win any Republican Primary in the state by a landslide.”

This guy is a complete tool and I will be doing everything in my power to help unseat this anti-american from office! He refused to vett obama, and yes he is fully aware of the fraudulent documents. He refuses to uphold the Constitution! He refuses to stand any ground for America and morals! He in facts supports the NDAA and he says it’s because of Al-quaeda…. hello Mr. Graham… Hillary admitted in open hearing that the US govt… that includes you ! made/trained the al-quaeda. Obama has made it clear you bafoon that it is every american who believes in the constitution, is ant-corruption in govt or refuse to accept the US being made into a communist country that are now considered the terrorists! Thus, your failure to lead, your failure to uphold your oath of office has left every SC resident with no choice but to remove your sad existence from office!!